Bring Back Teleporting Mobs

[Llewen]

I don't know about anyone else, but in my opinion that was always one of the most interesting things that mobs would do in combat, para, then teleport, or just teleport. The pathetic thing is they still try to do it, three years later.

Surely the problem with them teleporting into houses could have been fixed without killing their most creative move in combat. A fix was found for casting colossus in houses, could something similar to that fix be instituted for mobs, and their ability to teleport restored?

 

[Connor_Graham]

I asked to have them fixed the first day after the patch that screwed them up. They jacked up a lot of monsters and the difficulty teleport added to them. Now those monsters are a joke with too many HP's.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

So taking out teleporting was not intended? And there's actually hope that it will be brought back in? Glad to hear that. Monsters are way too stupid and predictable anyway.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

/signed ... damn I miss that.

 

[T'Challa]

I miss being able to call my pets to non-mage-accessible ledges and walkways

 

[MalagAste]

I miss being able to call my pets to non-mage-accessible ledges and walkways

Ditto!

I also miss my dragon flying... I really wish they could fix this and give my dragon back his wings.

 

[DarkVoid]

I don't know about anyone else, but in my opinion that was always one of the most interesting things that mobs would do in combat, para, then teleport, or just teleport. The pathetic thing is they still try to do it, three years later.

Surely the problem with them teleporting into houses could have been fixed without killing their most creative move in combat. A fix was found for casting colossus in houses, could something similar to that fix be instituted for mobs, and their ability to teleport restored?

I'm wondering if monsters teleporting into houses is to do with house access rights not being recognized by monster AI?

Orc mages are still dangerous to new players and if they teleport into someone's house they can still kill players that are caught unaware.

While killing an orc mage is a joke for anyone who actually has decent fighting ability, I strongly feel that new players should not be forced to learn this the hard way.

The solution would be to turn off the ability for monsters to recognize as a valid destination tile any tile that either belongs to someone's house or is currently under a house. Some monsters can apparently teleport under player houses due to line of sight bugs and this really needs to be fixed.

Additionally, the housing system should be programmed to insta-eject any monster that does manage to somehow teleport onto player-owned property before it can attack, cast spells, or use special moves.

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

I'm wondering if monsters teleporting into houses is to do with house access rights not being recognized by monster AI?

Orc mages are still dangerous to new players and if they teleport into someone's house they can still kill players that are caught unaware.

While killing an orc mage is a joke for anyone who actually has decent fighting ability, I strongly feel that new players should not be forced to learn this the hard way.

The solution would be to turn off the ability for monsters to recognize as a valid destination tile any tile that either belongs to someone's house or is currently under a house. Some monsters can apparently teleport under player houses due to line of sight bugs and this really needs to be fixed.

Additionally, the housing system should be programmed to insta-eject any monster that does manage to somehow teleport onto player-owned property before it can attack, cast spells, or use special moves.

I assume if a new player has a house they should be able to fight most monsters, or decent knowledge how to avoid death from one.

And I think the issue with the monsters teleporting was they teleported just below the house, where its not actually player owned if I am not mistaken. I also do not think monsters are subject to "valid" locations...since they were able to teleport basically anywhere lol. But yes it could be fixed by fixing their ability to teleport only to valid tiles.

 

[Anakena]

The removal of teleport from monsters was a bad move. Monsters with magery are now easier to kill, easier to tame, easier to bard, easier to escape. This for a few people who had a problem with monsters teleporting in their houses.

Maybe one could find a better fix : make all monsters teleport again except some low level monsters that usually are sometimes present in housing areas (Reapers, gargoyles, orc mages, imps,...). No need to nerf the bigger ones.

 

[Konge]

I'm wondering if monsters teleporting into houses is to do with house access rights not being recognized by monster AI?

Orc mages are still dangerous to new players and if they teleport into someone's house they can still kill players that are caught unaware.

While killing an orc mage is a joke for anyone who actually has decent fighting ability, I strongly feel that new players should not be forced to learn this the hard way.

The solution would be to turn off the ability for monsters to recognize as a valid destination tile any tile that either belongs to someone's house or is currently under a house. Some monsters can apparently teleport under player houses due to line of sight bugs and this really needs to be fixed.

Additionally, the housing system should be programmed to insta-eject any monster that does manage to somehow teleport onto player-owned property before it can attack, cast spells, or use special moves.

If the player can't fight orc mages... why'd he build a house next to an orc fort? That seems like career suicide.

 

[Connor_Graham]

I assume if a new player has a house they should be able to fight most monsters, or decent knowledge how to avoid death from one.

There used to be situations where reapers would spawn inside people's houses and their chars would be dead by the time the login caught up with the screen. I had this happen a couple of times when I first started playing. Then I found out that you can auto hide inside your own house, and that solved my problem. Other new players would be in a similar situation until they learned more about game mechanics.

On that note, by habit I still auto hide every time I log a char out.

 

[Llewen]

On that note, by habit I still auto hide every time I log a char out.

Yep, I still do the same, even though I'm in an area with very little in the way of spawn and none of it could kill me. Although I did have a blackrock elemental go charging by chasing some poor unfortunate soul once, and there is always the chance that someone could summon a harbinger...

 

[Llewen]

The removal of teleport from monsters was a bad move. Monsters with magery are now easier to kill, easier to tame, easier to bard, easier to escape. This for a few people who had a problem with monsters teleporting in their houses.

That just about sums it up.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Yep, I still do the same, even though I'm in an area with very little in the way of spawn and none of it could kill me. Although I did have a blackrock elemental go charging by chasing some poor unfortunate soul once, and there is always the chance that someone could summon a harbinger...

Heh, my house is in Zento. There isn't any agressive spawn anywhere near. You'd have to go 20 screens or more to find some.

 

[Llewen]

The removal of teleport from monsters was a bad move. Monsters with magery are now easier to kill, easier to tame, easier to bard, easier to escape. This for a few people who had a problem with monsters teleporting in their houses.

Actually the primary reason for the "fix" was pvp, and mostly pvp in Yew. Pets would teleport into houses and kill the occupants. So you are right when you say it was for a few people. As usual the small but very vocal pvp crowd in UO pulls far more than it's weight when it comes to dev decisions.

What is sad is that it was incredibly easy to combat and the only way it was a problem was if you were stupid enough to stay visible when you were afk in Fel, or stupid enough to not break aggro when you were in a house if a pet had been attacking you.

There were also some issues with other people who had houses in dangerous areas, for example swamps. Poison elementals loved teleporting into houses. But in my opinion, again, there are are so many safe spots open to place houses that anyone who buys a house in an area like that deserves what they get.

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

There used to be situations where reapers would spawn inside people's houses and their chars would be dead by the time the login caught up with the screen. I had this happen a couple of times when I first started playing. Then I found out that you can auto hide inside your own house, and that solved my problem. Other new players would be in a similar situation until they learned more about game mechanics.

On that note, by habit I still auto hide every time I log a char out.

HAH yea this was a little bit of an issue lol. But then they added a pretty decent timer for not being able to agro logging-in players, also....I cant remember the last time the log-in happened so long before I actually saw it that I had to worry about dying, but I do remember the days of reapers and other nasties waiting inside my house when I logged on xD

 

[CroakerTnT]

Hehe. During the magincia demon invasion that destroyed the town, you could get a dark father to teleport onto your boat. He'd kill you, but you could then sail the boat around and take him anywhere you liked.

I took him to the coast of Britannia north of Yew bank, hopped off the boat, got rezzed, came back to taunt him, he teleported again onto land, and then I dragged him down to yew gate. The slaughter was legendary. And beautiful.

I went back the next day to try to take him to Haven, and they'd fixed his teleporting.

This was on TC, so the YEW gate people were all geared for PvP. They had a hard time with a DF.

I can only imagine what would have happened with a DF at Haven bank.

 

[Beastmaster]

Hehe. During the magincia demon invasion that destroyed the town, you could get a dark father to teleport onto your boat. He'd kill you, but you could then sail the boat around and take him anywhere you liked.

I took him to the coast of Britannia north of Yew bank, hopped off the boat, got rezzed, came back to taunt him, he teleported again onto land, and then I dragged him down to yew gate. The slaughter was legendary. And beautiful.

I went back the next day to try to take him to Haven, and they'd fixed his teleporting.

This was on TC, so the YEW gate people were all geared for PvP. They had a hard time with a DF.

I can only imagine what would have happened with a DF at Haven bank.

THIS is what is wrong with UO. This is the epitome of a griefer folks. His sole enjoyment was to wreak havoc on other players by abusing game mechanics. Yes, it was TC, but the mentality behind it has characters on normal shards. Do you really believe they behave any differently there?

I'm sure many of you are sitting there laughing at not only his antics but at my post here decrying his actions. You are as much to blame. Bottom feeders of society.

 

[CroakerTnT]

lol. This is why I play siege.

 

[Llewen]

THIS is what is wrong with UO. This is the epitome of a griefer folks. His sole enjoyment was to wreak havoc on other players by abusing game mechanics. Yes, it was TC, but the mentality behind it has characters on normal shards. Do you really believe they behave any differently there?

Well to be honest, you should be grateful to him. That kind of thing is exactly what TC is for. Far better to find problems there than on a regular shard. And you're right, I do find it funny.

And beyond that, the more danger in the game, the better in my opinion. There are so many protections in place that it is good to see that there are still things that can remind people that being afk is just generally a bad idea, no matter how safe you may think you are.

Sure, there do need to be protections against griefers, but the occasional wake up call adds a little spice to the game, imho...

 

[Connor_Graham]

THIS is what is wrong with UO. This is the epitome of a griefer folks. His sole enjoyment was to wreak havoc on other players by abusing game mechanics. Yes, it was TC, but the mentality behind it has characters on normal shards. Do you really believe they behave any differently there?

I'm sure many of you are sitting there laughing at not only his antics but at my post here decrying his actions. You are as much to blame. Bottom feeders of society.

To be fair, he did it in Fel, where it's legal to do, and yeah, it is a bit funny thinking about the mayhem a DF at Yew gate would cause to the unprepared. Too bad it wasn't blackrock infected too. That would have been hilarious.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Well to be honest, you should be grateful to him. That kind of thing is exactly what TC is for. Far better to find problems there than on a regular shard. And you're right, I do find it funny.

And beyond that, the more danger in the game, the better in my opinion. There are so many protections in place that it is good to see that there are still things that can remind people that being afk is just generally a bad idea, no matter how safe you may think you are.

Sure, there do need to be protections against griefers, but the occasional wake up call adds a little spice to the game, imho...

I couldn't agree more.

With a little melancholy, I remember the time when occasionally a player would gate a group of monsters into town. Back then, monsters used to follow you through your gates. Fun times!

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

So taking out teleporting was not intended? And there's actually hope that it will be brought back in? Glad to hear that. Monsters are way too stupid and predictable anyway.

Couldn`t agree with that more. Something as smart as a Dragon which has mastered magery to the 8th circle...... somehow can`t fathom the art of teleporting.

Just ain`t right!

 

[Basara]

I'd like to see monsters be able to polymorph again, too.

I still remember fondly the tales of my first GM, of the time that some PKs came looking for him and thought that the dragon or AW he was fighting (and had killed him) was a PC, since they never opened up the paperdoll to see that it was a "Mystic Llamaherder". He watched as the first few fell, then went to get rezzed (he knew where a healer was, and they didn't). By the time he got back from the healer, they were all dead and he looted THEM while staying away from the dragon.

 

[Beastmaster]

THIS is what is wrong with UO. This is the epitome of a griefer folks. His sole enjoyment was to wreak havoc on other players by abusing game mechanics. Yes, it was TC, but the mentality behind it has characters on normal shards. Do you really believe they behave any differently there?

I'm sure many of you are sitting there laughing at not only his antics but at my post here decrying his actions. You are as much to blame. Bottom feeders of society.

To be fair, he did it in Fel, where it's legal to do, and yeah, it is a bit funny thinking about the mayhem a DF at Yew gate would cause to the unprepared. Too bad it wasn't blackrock infected too. That would have been hilarious.

I guess you overlooked the part where he TRIED to do this for Haven too?

 

[Llewen]

I guess you overlooked the part where he TRIED to do this for Haven too?

It was TC. Who cares?

 

[JC the Builder]

Teleporting was not removed from monsters. You can still hear them cast the spell, they just fail at it. I assume a check was added to see if the location they were teleporting to is inside a house. That check is however broken and they always assume the location is inside a house, thus they never teleport.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Teleporting was not removed from monsters. You can still hear them cast the spell, they just fail at it.

Pick nits much?

 

[Llewen]

Teleporting was not removed from monsters. You can still hear them cast the spell, they just fail at it. I assume a check was added to see if the location they were teleporting to is inside a house. That check is however broken and they always assume the location is inside a house, thus they never teleport.

Pick nits much?

Well Mr. Graham, I'm not optimistic, but if JC's hypothesis is true, then the devs might indeed be able to fix their fix. My guess however is that they simply disabled teleporting in a truly kludgy way and it was too much trouble to make it neat and tidy and ensure the the mobs wouldn't continue to try and cast it. So while he may have been nit picking, it would also be nice if his hypothesis is correct.

But as I said, I'm not optimistic...

 

[Connor_Graham]

Well Mr. Graham, I'm not optimistic, but if JC's hypothesis is true, then the devs might indeed be able to fix their fix. My guess however is that they simply disabled teleporting in a truly kludgy way and it was too much trouble to make it neat and tidy and ensure the the mobs wouldn't continue to try and cast it. So while he may have been nit picking, it would also be nice if his hypothesis is correct.

But as I said, I'm not optimistic...

It's not a a hypothesis, it's fact, but that wasn't my point. Teleporting was simply "turned off" for monsters. They can and do cast the spell but don't go anywhere. The "ability to teleport" was taken away, but the "ability to CAST teleport" is still there. Either way, monsters no longer teleport because the ability to do so was taken from them, thus the "picking nits" comment. It doesn't matter HOW it's said, merely that they should be able to do it.

 

[JC the Builder]

It's not a a hypothesis, it's fact, but that wasn't my point. Teleporting was simply "turned off" for monsters. They can and do cast the spell but don't go anywhere. The "ability to teleport" was taken away, but the "ability to CAST teleport" is still there. Either way, monsters no longer teleport because the ability to do so was taken from them, thus the "picking nits" comment. It doesn't matter HOW it's said, merely that they should be able to do it.

It wasn't meant to be taken away. The publish notes said monsters would no longer be able to teleport into houses. From publish 53:

Creatures will no longer teleport into private houses

http://www.uoherald.com/news/news.php?newsid=807

This change also broke the feature which let you summon magical pets to teleport to your location by saying "all come" 3 times in a row.

 

[Connor_Graham]

It wasn't meant to be taken away.

I didn't say it was.

 

[Llewen]

I assume a check was added to see if the location they were teleporting to is inside a house. That check is however broken and they always assume the location is inside a house, thus they never teleport.

It's not a a hypothesis, it's fact...

I'm not going to get into an argument over it, but as far as I am concerned JC's assumption there is an hypothesis. When they said, "Creatures will no longer teleport into houses", we have no idea whether they intended to entirely remove their ability to teleport, or whether they simply intended to remove their ability to teleport into houses. Either way the statement is true, we just don't have any details.

My guess is they removed their ability to teleport into houses by removing their ability to teleport. I would prefer that I was wrong about that because it would probably be simpler to fix a bug like that than to reverse their first fix and code an entirely new way to solve the original problem.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Something else lost is what the AI did for monsters is their interaction with one another. Juka mages healing the lords and cheering them on. The Ophid invasion with their healers effect.

The teleport hopefully is something high on the list. I agree totally with if your AFK at home and get critter gank. Stay alert, stay alive. Castles pop spawn out of the courtyard if it targets you. So why not have the same effect if in peace mode while in a house, agros get the house sign post.